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Delightful Pastries Brunch

One of my goals as editor of Bitches Who Brunch in Chicago is to find places that are off the beaten path and let my fellow brunchers know when they need to venture for something new. Well, I found a great excuse: Delightful Pastries.

Delightful Pastries (DP) on Wells Street has been a fixture in Old Town since 2009, but within the past year has decided to delve into the brunch market, and I’m so pleased it did. Delightful Pastries is known for delicate, delicious, and artfully crafted pastries, macarons, pierogis, and quiches. Believe me, that’s only a tiny portion of what DP creates, and everything they make is phenomenal. So, when I spoke to the chef, Kelly, about the new brunch menu she was creating, I knew I had to try it.

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Recently, I took my parents and two friends to brunch at DP so that we could try as many varieties of dishes as we could. I mean, honestly, why brunch in a group if you can’t try everything? Remember, sharing is caring, Bitches.

We chose a big table in the front of the restaurant with a pleasant view of Wells Street. The decor is very Parisian, with wicker chairs that remind me of something you’d see at an outdoor cafe in France. As you make your way to the back of the restaurant you walk past display cases full of tasty treats and breads that leave you drooling.

Kelly graciously came out to the dining area to greet us and chatted with my friends and parents about this brunch menu and informed us she had added some new dishes, like the chef’s chorizo wake-up breakfast and the delightfully Cuban sandwich. We were starving, so we got down to business and ordered with Kelly.

My dad, being a sandwich man, heard Kelly talk about the delightfully Cuban sandwich and immediately made up his mind that that was what he wanted. The sandwich had Polish ham, and melted cheese on toasted five grain bread.

He had mustard to dip the sandwich in and a side salad with homemade dressing. My dad loved the sandwich and said that it was absolutely a meal in itself. Granted, he eats like a bird, but still—it was a hearty sandwich. He also loved the five grain bread that sandwich was made on.

After scouring the menu, Lauren chose one of the chef specials: the chef’s chorizo wake-up breakfast. The dish had eggs, scallions, and hot sauce drizzled over potatoes. Lauren described the dish as a definite “wake up your palette” kind of breakfast dish. It was well prepared and well thought out and the hot sauce and chorizo provided the zing to get you going in the morning.

Both my mom and Brian opted for the classic eggs Benedict with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, Polish ham, on an everything bun with shallots, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Both of them enjoyed their meals very much, adding that the proportions of the dish was well-balanced—not too bready, not too hammy, it was just right. Brian in particular liked the salad dressing for the side salad, and was trying to figure out how to make it at home!

For my entree, I tried a kind of eggs Benedict I had never had before: eggs Benedict Florentine. This version has poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce, sauteed spinach, and mushrooms atop Delightful Pastries’ homemade everything bun with shallots, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds.

The eggs were poached to perfection and the everything bun was delightful (no pun intended)! However, the consistency of the spinach and mushrooms was a bit mushy for me, and I wish there had been something of a bit more substance to help balance the the soft spinach and mushrooms.

Delightful Pastries is a place worth stopping in for a visit. Whether it’s for a coffee or brunch, Delightful Pastries is a gem of Old Town that I hope is around for forever.

The Bitches say: B+. Delightful Pastries is more than a pastry shop—it’s a place to go and relax, eat great meals, and know that you’re getting high-quality food prepared by people who care the products they make.